Topic: Mario Kart 8 Due Out in May Worldwide

[NWR_Neal]

Spring 2014 has gotten shortened to May.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/36433

Mario Kart 8 is coming out in May 2014 across the world, according to Nintendo President Satoru Iwata.

Previously listed as a spring 2014 release since its announcement at last E3, more information about Mario Kart 8 will be revealed in upcoming Nintendo Direct presentations.

[smallsharkbigbite]

The speed boot looks nice.  But I don't understand why you need a gamepad for that feature.  My guess is the O/S is still booting in the background and by clicking the button you are going straight to loading a game.  Couldn't you have that option with a pro controller?  The quick start games show on the TV while the O/S is loading.  Then use analog/buttons to select and go right to game? 

[Pixelated Pixies]

I didn't even know that Peggy Hill owned a Wii U.

[Shaymin]

If Watch Dogs falls into May as well, this could be a surprisingly busy month for the old U. Either way, I look forward to having a run-in with BJ.

[broodwars]

Well, Nintendo's actually putting it out in May. There goes one of my NFR 2014 predictions already, though I do admit it was always a long shot. I figured Nintendo was spacing out titles again, so a Fall release was inevitable. Well, at least this makes Nintendo's Fall 2014 lineup a great deal more potentially interesting with only possibly Smash announced so far.

[NWR_insanolord]

What do you mean only Smash? There are several other games that we know of that could fall in there, like X and Yarn Yoshi.

[broodwars]

What do you mean only Smash? There are several other games that we know of that could fall in there, like X and Yarn Yoshi.

We don't know what's going on with Yarn Yoshi yet, and I'll be astonished if X arrives in North America by Fall 2014. Japan? Maybe, but not North America. That's a 2015 release here almost guaranteed.

[Neifirst]

I would doubt X for the fall except for the fact that the "new title by MONOLITHSOFT" continues to be listed as a 2014 release for all regions.  I read, or heard, somewhere that it was being localized alongside development.  It was done for Pokemon X/Y, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility.

I hope Nintendo has some major VC or other releases planned for March & April.  With Platinum's luck, Bayonetta 2 is going to get released to compete against Titanfall and Infamous Second Son.

[Adrock]

May is pretty much where I expected Mario Kart 8 to land. That gives me plenty of time to be angry at Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

Yarn Yoshi could literally be released any time. It's the least complicated game Nintendo has slated for release this year. With Yoshi's New Island coming out in March, maybe Yarn Yoshi in June/July. I'm not sure when X would release if it gets released this year which I think is possible, just in the latter half. Bayonetta 2 seemed pretty far along when that off-camera footage popped up a few weeks ago. It will do better if she's playable in Super Smash Bros. (which I still think is very possible) and it releases afterwards, benefitting from free publicity and greater exposure to the Super Smash Bros. audience and more importantly, more than the 37 people who bought the first game. I'm pegging Super Smash Bros. in August (over two years in development, Nintendo could use a big Summer title to carry the momentum) so maybe Bayonetta 2 in October. I just don't know where that leaves X. It can't carry a holiday season so either Super Smash Bros. is Nintendo's major title in November and X comes out in the Summer or there's a mystery title slated for November and X comes out in 2015.

Hyrule Warriors is apparently set for 2014, but it looked so early. If anything gets pushed back, I would think it's that game.

[Shaymin]

Yarn Yoshi could literally be released any time. It's the least complicated game Nintendo has slated for release this year.
...
Hyrule Warriors is apparently set for 2014, but it looked so early. If anything gets pushed back, I would think it's that game.

1) We have seen exactly nothing of Yarn Yoshi since last year, and it has an approximate release date of "I don't f**king know". For all we know, they rebooted it into a 3D platformer in the vein of Sly Cooper 1.

2) If there's one thing Tecmo/Koei is good at, it's cranking out Warriors games. That's out by end of the year so as to put as much distance between it and the "real" Zelda WiiU game next year.

[Shaymin]

*as much distance as possible

[Adrock]

1) We have seen exactly nothing of Yarn Yoshi since last year, and it has an approximate release date of "I don't f**king know". For all we know, they rebooted it into a 3D platformer in the vein of Sly Cooper 1.

While true, that could be said of just about any game if you're basing this off of absence and a lack of a set release date. This includes Hyrule Warriors which you're pretty convinced is coming out this year.

Not that game development is easy, but Yarn Yoshi doesn't look like an especially taxing game, less so than Hyrule Warriors anyway. Good Feel has made an aesthetically similar game before so if you're pointing to Tecmo Koei's experience with the genre to support a 2014 release of Hyrule Warriors, the same can be said of Good Feel with Yarn Yoshi.

Zelda matters more to Nintendo than Yoshi so they're less likely to rush Hyrule Warriors if it came down to that. Given how early Hyrule Warriors looked, how late it was announced last year, and how protective Nintendo is of the Zelda series (though, admittedly, not protective enough to not attempt a hack-and-slash spinoff), I think there's reason to believe that it could slip into 2015, not that it necessarily will. And I'm not convinced Nintendo is too concerned with spacing out release dates considering how many Mario games are released so close together.

[pokepal148]

May you say? Well then I look forward to Mario Kart '8 blue shells per race coming right at you' coming out in late August

All jokes aside Mario Kart 7 was just such a disappointment to me without VS. mode on single player that I just cannot possibly get hyped for 8.

[Pixelated Pixies]

Mario Kart 7 was a great entry in the series. I've never quite understood why some people were down on that game. The online was perfect (better even than Wii), the game looked better than it ever has before thanks to the great use of 3D, and the new levels were interesting, with lots of alternate routes and a nice balance of risk/reward.

Admittedly the single player still sucked, but that's pretty much to be expected with the Mario Kart series.

Mario Kart 8 looks to be another baby step forward for the series, with the graphics in particular seeming to have been a focus. 8 looks so much more detailed and crisp than previous Kart games (owing no doubt to the availability of HD resolution). I just hope some effort is finally put into the single player mode, otherwise they should just remove it entirely.

[pokepal148]

Mario kart 7's multiplayer was a travesty, even by mario kart standards. The Grand Prix is so unbalanced in difficulty, battle mode gets boring quickly, VS MODE doesn't exist in single player, and time trials are just stupidly boring.

For that to happen in a PORTABLE GAME is simply unacceptable. I don't care how good the online is (and frankly I get sick of rainbow road and the other 4 courses that people act like are the only ones that exist.) If you can't put a single player out that meets the most basic standards of what has been offered in previous games in the series then don't rush it out because of the holidays.

[UncleBob]

Am I the only one confused by the above post?

[Mop it up]

I expected April, but this works.

[pokepal148]

By the rainbow road remark? Yeah I knew I should have phrased that better, basically if you go online for the whole randomized thing people tend to pick the same 6 tracks every time.

[pokepal148]

Wait... oh I see, I meant to say singleplayer.

If only I could edit my posts I wouldn't need to devote two more of them to corrections.